7:11pm: Chicago will recall Robinson from Charlotte for his first MLB work since 2022, stories Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Solar-Instances.
6:10pm: The White Sox have designated catcher Martín Maldonado for task, per Ken Rosenthal and Chandler Rome of The Athletic on X. The Sox don’t play once more till Friday, so the corresponding transfer or strikes is probably not instantly recognized.
Maldonado, 37, signed a one-year deal with the Sox within the offseason. The veteran backstop secured a $4.25MM assure within the type of a $4MM wage with a $250K buyout on a $4MM membership/vesting choice for 2025. The choice would have vested with Maldonado making 90 appearances at catcher however he’s solely at 48 this yr.
He’s by no means been a lot of a hitter however has lengthy acquired reward for his protection and his management talents in working with a pitching employees. Groups have typically been prepared to take that tradeoff over his profession however he has declined on each side of the ball to the purpose that it pushed him off his roster spot with the Sox.
Coming into this yr, Maldonado had a profession batting line of .207/.282/.349. That manufacturing translated to a wRC+ of 72, indicating he had been 28% beneath the league common hitter general. Catchers are usually roughly 10% beneath par, in order that type of hitting isn’t disastrous if there are defensive contributions to go along with it. However his bat has been even much less efficient that uncommon this season, as he has a dismal line of .119/.174/.230. His wRC+ of 11 is lifeless final within the majors amongst batters with at the very least 140 plate appearances this yr.
On prime of that, the marks on his glovework have additionally declined. He has 58 Defensive Runs Saved in his profession however was at -10 final yr and is at -8 already right here in 2024 regardless of restricted enjoying time. FanGraphs, Baseball Prospectus and Statcast have thought of him to be a optimistic pitch framer in his profession however he’s been in unfavourable territory in 2024. The subpar bat was as soon as palatable with sturdy protection, however declines in each departments have made him more durable to abdomen, so the Sox will apparently be transferring on.
The Sox might want to name up one other catcher to share time with Korey Lee they usually have a few choices. Chuckie Robinson was added to their 40-man a couple of month in the past however stored on elective task. He’s hitting .246/.292/.382 in Triple-A this yr for a wRC+ of 70 however the Sox presumably like him as they gave him that roster spot to forestall him from triggering an opt-out clause.
There’s additionally prospect Edgar Quero, who came to visit in final yr’s commerce that despatched Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo López to the Angels. He’s having an important yr, with a batting line of .274/.362/.462 and 141 wRC+ between Double-A and Triple-A to date. He’s a consensus prime 100 prospect and arguably the membership’s catcher of the long run. He has simply six video games above the Double-A degree on his observe document and isn’t but on the 40-man roster, however maybe the Sox need to use the second half to have him get acquainted with a few of their employees and/or face main league pitching.
The Sox will technically have per week from when the transfer turns into official to both commerce or move Maldonado by waivers, although the he’s prone to find yourself launched within the coming days. He has greater than sufficient service time to reject an outright task and no membership will need to tackle what’s left of his wage. If any group actually believes in his game-calling talents, he may maybe garner curiosity after he’s launched, when the Sox can be on the hook for almost all of the cash he’s nonetheless owed. One other group may signal him at that time and solely pay him the prorated model of the $740K league minimal, with that quantity subtracted from what the Sox pay.
